His eyebrows must have shot up on that one because he sounded startled when he said, "You have a crush on me?"

"No," I replied regally. "I just said I didn't."

"But you did before?" I had him completely baffled. "I thought I heard your brother say you had Rick Getty's picture all over your wall."

I cringed. Just how much had he heard in the store? Oh well, I'd worry about that later. "That was last year," I said.

"You're the hot topic this year."

" Me?" I didn't think he was trying to be vain and draw compliments out of me, because the poor boy honestly sounded confused.

I loved it.

"But why?"

"Please." I gave the word two syllables as I snorted it.

"You're good looking, rich, unattached, popular, and fairly intelligent. Why wouldn't every girl dream about you?" 57

The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

"But why do you? You don't seem like the type to follow the pack."

I shrugged. I'd already spilled this first part. Why not let him know everything? It wasn't like I still had a crush on him anymore, right?

"Since that football interview," I said, "I kept running into you and having the oddest meetings. So you got stuck in my head, and I was forced to think about you. From there, it just seemed to grow. And let's not forget the whole park incident."

"All I did was hold your hand and push you on the swing. Geez, Carrie. It's not that big of a deal."

"But it doesn't take Luke Carter much to charm a nobody like me."

"Don't say that about yourself. You're not a nobody." For the first time since I'd picked up the phone, I heard irritation in his voice.

"Watch what you say," I warned. "Any more compliments and you'll have my geeky heart going pitter-pat all over again."

"Cut it out."

I laughed, giving it a wicked sound. "What's wrong, Lucas?

Every other girl in school thinks you're the hottest thing since the microwave."

"They do not!" He was spitting out denials desperately.

"And don't call me that."

"Are you blushing?" I said, knowing I had full control of the conversation.

"No."

58

The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

"You are." I giggled. "Oh, this is precious. I'm making Luke Carter blush."

"Stop it, Carrie." His voice carried heat and a warning.

"This is weird."

"I take it that the reason you keep bugging me has nothing to do with romantic intentions, then?" There was a pause. And then, "Of course not," he said with such emphasis, it suddenly had my brain whirling. No romantic intentions, huh? It hurt. I can't deny it. But I was too curious to let a thing like that bother me. Remember, I'm an investigative journalist at heart. I was going to get to the bottom of this. If the guy was going to break my heart I was going to find out why.

"Hmm," I said, and tapped my chin.

"What?"

I smiled when I heard alarm in his voice. "I'm thinking."

"OK, now you're scaring me." He didn't sound scared, but wary. Very, very wary. "What're you thinking?"

"I'm thinking of what I might possibly have that you want?"

"I don't—"

"No, no." I grinned, knowing I had him nervous. "Let me guess here." By the way he sounded, I knew I had to be getting close to his secret intentions.

"You don't want me for my body," I said, ignoring a pang of self-pity over that fact. "You showed interest in one of my Dad's cars. But it's obvious you don't really want to buy one of them. I suppose you could be somehow trying to infiltrate 59

The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

my father's business and take it over. But that can't be it, since your dad already owns more of it than my dad does."

"Carrie, don't—" I could tell it made him uncomfortable to mention Dad's debt to his father at the bank. I hurried on, interrupting him.

"So that can't be it," I said. "But then I see you at the grocery store today and that makes me think of Abby Eggrow."

"Abby Eggrow?" He laughed. "OK, I've got to hear this one."

"All right." I cracked my knuckles. "Marty's been seen publicly with Abby lately. But wait! Luke suddenly thinks he's interested in her. He's jealous of Marty Paxton and needs to come up with some way to get Marty out of the picture. So first he goes to visit Marty's home. He talks to the dad and then to the sister to see if he can pressure some information out of them and discover some kind of weakness in Marty. But he comes up with a blank. So he strolls into Getty's General this afternoon to put the moves on Abby himself." I thought it was a viable solution. Granted, I'd just thought it up and I hadn't worked out any of the kinks yet. But it might be why Luke kept bugging me.

"So what do you think?" I asked. Luke said, "I think you read too many Nancy Drew mysteries."

I frowned. "It's not Abby then, huh?"

"Definitely not." Luke seemed more adamant about his secret not being romantic intentions toward Abby than he'd been adamant about it not being romantic intentions toward 60

The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

me. It was a small victory for me, but it made me feel smug nonetheless.

"OK," I said. "Then how about this?"

"I'm not sure if I want to hear anymore." But I could tell he did. It was amusing him. And I was having fun myself. I squeezed my eyes tight and thought desperately. What would Luke Carter want from me? I wasn't beautiful. I wasn't smart and I didn't have any special talents...Wait a second. What was my one talent?

I was so excited I jumped to my feet. "It's because I write."

Luke said nothing so I knew instantly I'd struck oil. I slapped a hand to my head. "That's it. It all makes sense now. In the park, you kept asking me about my writing."

"So?" He couldn't hide the little twitter of desperation he felt. I could hear it in the quiver of his vocal cords as he struggled to sound insolent. I don't know why he was trying to hide it. Maybe there was something else he still didn't want me to know.

"So," I echoed. "Why would you care about my writing, unless..." I snapped my fingers. "Unless it could be used as some kind of service to you."

"Look, Carrie. This is getting crazy. I'm going to hang up." I had to be really close now.

"You want me to write a paper for you." Yes, I had it all figured out. He was embarrassed to come right out and ask me. He didn't know if I was the type to outright refuse him and then go tell the teacher he wanted to cheat. He must've 61

The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

been testing me to see what sort of person I was. And he still wasn't sure if he could put his trust in me yet. It made me feel good to think he wanted to use my writing ability. Writing was one of the most important parts of my life. I liked the idea of having a talent desired by others.

"You want me to write a paper for you," I repeated with more confidence. "Don't you?"

"No." He said it with such force I almost believed him. And then there was a click.

My mouth fell open. "What the..." I stared at the dead phone for a second. Then I knotted my jaw and hit *69. He answered two rings later.